Following on from the success of my chicken and chorizo pasta recipe, I tried another new recipe that my Mum sent me! This time it's chicken and Parma ham pasta sauce, deliciously creamy and fantastic with tagliatelle, I instantly wanted to cook up a second batch!

The only problem with it is that, unlike the chorizo recipe, this won't really freeze well, so isn't suitable for batch cooking. However it is quite quick to put together on a weekday evening.

Ingredients

• Chicken breast - One per person, cut in to smallish pieces.
• Small pack of parma ham, it's quite salty so you won't need it all! I normally use the rest to make chicken breasts wrapped in parma ham the next day.
• Small pot double cream.
• Tarragon (dried or fresh is fine)
• A quarter of a lemon
• 1/4 to 1/2 a pint of chicken stock (1/4 is suitable for 2 people, 1/2 would be better if you're cooking for a larger group)
• Butter and olive oil

Cook cook cook

1. Melt some butter in a frying pan, and cook the chicken in it.
2. Remove from the chicken from the pan and set to one side.
3. Add a drop of olive oil to the pan, and tear the Parma ham into strips straight in to the pan (or cut it in to pieces while the chicken is cooking). Stir around until lightly crispy.
4. Add the chicken to the pan with the Parma ham, and pour in the chicken stock and a few generous pinches of tarragon (depending on your taste)
5. Simmer for 10 minutes. (I normally start cooking the pasta at this point)
6. Pour in some double cream and a squeeze of lemon juice, and stir until it's all mixed in with the stock. The sauce should be a lovely dark cream colour.
7. Taste it and add more cream or stock if you need it or need a bit more sauce, or some extra tarragon if you're not getting the flavour.
8. Serve with linguine or spaghetti, pastas which go well with nice creamy sauces.

The first time I cooked this it took me a little longer than expected. I think that second time round I'd be able to get it done in less than 30 minutes, great for a quick mid-week dinner!

Recipe - Chicken and Chorizo Pasta

If you follow my Instagram then you might have spotted my delicious chicken and chorizo penne pasta dinner the other night! This recipe is one I got from my Mum, so there's a very real possibility that it's already out there online on a proper cooking website.

However, it's so delicious and so quick to make that I had to share it on here. Thanks to me and OH having a long commute from the new home, having recipes that are quick to put together and don't need loads of attention are a life saver!

Chicken and chorizo pasta!

This pasta sauce is delicious, only needs a few ingredients, and can be chucked in to a pan and left to cook while you sort out other things around the house. I find this recipe makes enough sauce for two people on the day plus an extra portion for the freezer.

Ingredients

• Chicken breast, 1 per person, cut in to chunks
• Chorizo diced or cut in to slices, depending on how you prefer it. I use a LOT of chorizo as I love it, but you can use a smaller quantity if it's not your thing.
• Carton of tomato passata
• Tomato puree

Cook cook cook

1. Put the chorizo in a saucepan and fry gently to release the oil (you don't need olive oil, chorizo is naturally oily).
2. After a few minutes of frying add the chicken and let it cook with the chorizo.
3. Once the chicken chunks are cooked through pour in the tomato passata and a tablespoon of tomato puree.
4. Give everything a good stir, put the lid on the pan, and leave it to simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The joy of this is that you can leave it for longer if you need or want. Passata is quite runny so you have a lot of liquid, and if you keep the lid on with a low simmer then it shouldn't dry out.
5. Serve with penne or fusili. Personally I prefer fusili as the sauce sticks to it really well.

This freezes really well so if you're a batch cooking or meal prep person then this can be a really easy "make at the weekend and eat during the week" sauce.